The loco on both trips was Iarll Meirionydd / Earl of Meirioneth; two sets were working, with Merddin Emrys in charge of the other.

Here's a shot of our loco refuelling and watering at Porthmadog.

John

Dean

Bullhead is still alive and well in some applications - the London Underground still use it exclusively, I think.

From the modelling / weathering point of view, what I find fascinating about the photo is that this very smartly-turned-out loco is still rather tatty in places - note the way that the lining, and indeed the whole paint-scheme, disappears around the front of the cab behind the dome.

You can also (just) see the twin regulators in the cab; the levers are painted red and the handles for the two engines (one loco, two engines!) sit right next to each other, making it very easy for the driver to control them either separately or together.

John

After reading your post which included a name of the rail type (thanks!) I searched around a bit for some other info. Pretty fascinating stuff! Peco even produces track in this configuration and I'm sure others do as well.

Yes, I did notice the various new and used looking areas on the loco. The front right deck edge looks more paintless than the left side probably from access to the smoke box? The cow catcher or the UK equivalent has all it's paint so I guess they don't use it for a step up.

If it were shiny all over then you picture would probably have had loads of sunlight bouncing back at the film.

Dean

The original idea with bullhead rail was that it could be turned over and reused 'upside down' once the running surface was worn, but in fact this hardly ever happened as the bottom of the rail was damaged by hammer-blow in the chairs (though the Ffestiniog did occasionally reuse old rail after planing the bottom surface smooth); the real advantage was that the chairs enabled the rail to sit at exactly the right vertical angle (sloping inwards slightly - someone here may know the exact degree of slope?) to match the coning on the tyres).

These locos do get climbed over quite a bit, especially to reach the fillers on the tank tops. Indeed, the original reason the spectacle glasses were made so large was so that the crew members could climb out through them should the loco fail in the Ffestiniog's 'long tunnel', where the clearances at the sides and top were measured in inches only. The new Moelwyn Tunnel is quite a bit bigger, but clearances in places on the line are still very tight indeed.

John

Thanks for the enlightenment. Always fascinating to learn how things work. With those tight quarters and possibility of a break down, I'll bet those crews take extra care making sure things are working correctly. Don't think I'd like to be walking out of a tunnel.

Dean

Nowadays things are very different!

John